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Inmate's Suspected Overdose Delays Execution

Ohio has postponed the execution of an inmate who overdosed on pills from Tuesday to March 16.

Authorities say 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds was found unconscious in his prison cell Sunday night. He had been scheduled to die by lethal injection for the killing of his Cuyahoga Falls neighbor in 1994.

Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn says Reynolds has been upgraded from serious to stable condition at a Youngstown hospital, but medical staff don't anticipate releasing him Monday.

Walburn says Gov. Ted Strickland has issued the seven-day reprieve to allow Reynolds to be released and provide state prison staff with extra time to prepare for his execution. Walburn says Reynolds' injuries were self-imposed, but she declined to call it a suicide attempt. The state continues to investigate the case.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)